tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post8766437115569605367..comments2024-03-25T10:22:04.995-07:00Comments on Ed Gorman's blog: Kiss Me Deadly - Robert AldrichEd Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06126267358266480356noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-78718302881896496702011-02-22T12:29:19.761-08:002011-02-22T12:29:19.761-08:00And there are many people like Bogdanovich who hav...And there are many people like Bogdanovich who have probably never read Mickey but take cheap shots, anyway.<br /><br />And others who dislike his work but fail to recognize or anyway acknowledge his importance in a pop cultural sense and in the progression of the hardboiled mystery novel. The number of things Spillane haters love that would not exist had Mickey not existed is long indeed.<br /><br />And I am not the only one who appreciate Spillane...right, Ed?Max Allan Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00867456003618637948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-62591815576808445712011-02-22T11:51:27.994-08:002011-02-22T11:51:27.994-08:00Max, I am very happy you enjoy Spillane's work...Max, I am very happy you enjoy Spillane's work and continued to make sure he is not forgotten.<br /><br />But there are some of us who disliked his writing and characters.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-73290882281319357062011-02-22T08:38:51.424-08:002011-02-22T08:38:51.424-08:00Actually, the restored ending that turned up on DV...Actually, the restored ending that turned up on DVD and is shown on TCM is what was shown in theaters -- with Hammer and Velda shivvering in the water, having retreated from the fiery beach house, including the mini-atomic blast that destroys the house, right down to a superimposed mushroom cloud. The version that ends with the house exploding and omits Hammer and Velda's escape appears to be a TV version and the one many of us saw as "official" for decades. Whether this was intentional or just a damaged print remains unknown. But Aldrich never approved it, and said so in interviews. The restored version comes from Aldrich's own vault print.<br /><br />Peter B. writes wonderfully about film, but his glib putdown of Spillane indicates is too typical of the smugness that tinges all of his criticism and commentary.<br /><br />Those younger among you who wonder why I speak of always having to defend Spillane...this is typical, and it still goes on.Max Allan Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00867456003618637948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-79566633204427496542011-02-22T07:39:17.360-08:002011-02-22T07:39:17.360-08:00Re: the nuke blast at the end, Aldrich had shot an...Re: the nuke blast at the end, Aldrich had shot an ending where Hammer and the girl escape the house, which continues to merely burn, but he released instead the alternative ending of them still inside the house when the nuclear explosion occurs.<br /><br />KISS ME DEADLY is a classic and Meeker was great as Mike Hammer, IMO, although the script made him out to be a sort of James Bond prototype. I wish he could've made more Hammer films that were truer to Mickey Spillane's vision.Mike Dennishttp://mikedennisnoir.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-64091861118820947162011-02-21T07:20:56.556-08:002011-02-21T07:20:56.556-08:00For us fans who like '50s B actors, KISS ME DE...For us fans who like '50s B actors, KISS ME DEADLY is packed with a who's who of iconic faces -- Jack Elam and Jack Lambert as the hit men, Robert Cornthwaite and James Seay as the FBI agents, Percy Helton as the creepy doctor in the morgue ... Anyone else think that Ralph Meeker should have played Lew Archer? Or maybe he did; the cynical L.A. private eye in KISS ME DEADLY seems equal parts Hammer and '50s-era Archer.Fred Blosserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07307848103704970189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-74397555010535789612011-02-21T00:16:32.818-08:002011-02-21T00:16:32.818-08:00Always loved this fil;m except for the ending. Yes...Always loved this fil;m except for the ending. Yes, I had the impression thay everyone got blown up. Hated it.<br /><br />RJRRJRnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-68413626205541221732011-02-20T20:00:17.112-08:002011-02-20T20:00:17.112-08:00So what was that big explosion at the end of the f...So what was that big explosion at the end of the film?Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-20772718518940448832011-02-20T19:22:06.106-08:002011-02-20T19:22:06.106-08:00Remember the mysterious briefcase from PULP FICTIO...Remember the mysterious briefcase from PULP FICTION? Straight outta KISS ME DEADLY.Gary Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07041981833720126401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-86054324146431630632011-02-20T18:23:16.526-08:002011-02-20T18:23:16.526-08:00I agree with Mr. Hoover on his interpretation of t...I agree with Mr. Hoover on his interpretation of the film's ending. Otherwise, I'm not a big fan of the film, though I am a fan of Meeker.<br /><br />I think Aldrich's The Big Knife and Attack are much better and more interesting films that are actually about something.Peter L. Winklerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005846686173676213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-62947305724923460132011-02-20T14:27:48.320-08:002011-02-20T14:27:48.320-08:00Great film, but I don't know where Bogdanovich...Great film, but I don't know where Bogdanovich gets this:<br /><br />"At the end, everybody, including Hammer, gets blown away in a dusk-lit Malibu beach house by no less than a nuclear blast."<br /><br />That never happened nor was it implied. What was implied was the looming specter of nuclear horror -- but Hammer, the girl and LA don't get blown up and it's not suggested in the film that they do.Kenneth Mark Hooverhttp://kennethmarkhoover.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-23867711914706262852011-02-20T13:48:27.704-08:002011-02-20T13:48:27.704-08:00Saw this film a couple months ago for the first ti...Saw this film a couple months ago for the first time - with the nuclear ending. You are right. I didn't know Aldrich hated Spillane, but it makes sense. It's one of the angriest movies I've seen. And the opening with Leachman on the highway is iconic noir.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.com